


The Courthouse Steps

by saruma_aki



Series: Coldflash Week 2017 A [5]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Bisexual Barry Allen, Boys In Love, Bullying, Counselor Leonard Snart, Don't worry, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, It's my headcanon, Leonard Is Half-Arab, M/M, Original Character(s), Pansexual Leonard Snart, Pre-Slash, Single Parent Barry, Tumblr: coldflashweek, coldflash - Freeform, coldflashweek, coldflashweek2017a, his name is michael, it's barry's kid, it's just one, since that one episode in lot, sorry - Freeform, there's not a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 06:19:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10611012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saruma_aki/pseuds/saruma_aki
Summary: Barry was stressed. He was tired. He just wanted things to be easy and calm and to go right for once, but, with his luck, that was a dream he wouldn't be able to reach quite yet.Except--He's not saying he was expecting a knight in shining armor or something of that sort. But he can't say he was expecting an ostracized school counselor with a sandbox either.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Day Five of Coldflash Week 2017 in April.
> 
> Prompt: Alternate Universe
> 
> I loved writing this one, but I'm worried it's a bit rushed and stilted. Sorry about that if it is.
> 
> Enjoy!

If anyone had told Barry that at thirty-five years old he would be sitting in a middle school waiting to see the school counselor with an arm around his sobbing child, he would have thought that there could not possibly be a more dismal looking future.

He wasn’t quite wrong.

 

 

 

“Michael,” he urged quietly, sitting on the corner of the bed and looking at the lump under the bed sheets that was determined not to emerge and see the light of day. “You need to come out from under there—you have school.” Honestly, at this point it was just sad that he programmed his alarm for five in the morning so that he would have a good hour to coax his son out of bed so that he could attend class and so that Barry could go into work without having to explain to his boss why he was late once again.

It was a miracle he was so good at his job.

“I don’t wanna,” Michael responded, voice hoarse and muffled, sounding a bit congested and nasally. Barry scrubbed his hands over his face in response, trying to think of something to do. He couldn’t leave Michael alone all day at home—not when he was in such a state—but he couldn’t find the cruelness in him to force the kid to attend class.

“Well, what do you want to do?” he sighed out, head in his hands, elbows propped on his knees as he tried not to cry, too. He was only one guy; he could only do so much, and he was trying to be there for Michael, but he was busy and had responsibilities, too.

“Can’t I go into work with you?” the little head finally popped out from under the covers, Michael sitting up and looking at him with that desperation on his face that made Barry’s heart break because he was all kinds of unprepared to deal with this.

Sighing softly, a small broken noise escaping the back of his throat, he tugged Michael close, holding his son against his body, feeling the boy’s arms come up and wrap around him in a tight hold. “I wish you could, Michael, but you know why you can’t. If I had a more family friendly job, I would bring you every day and teach you myself—you know I would,” he whispered, pulling back and looking down at Michael’s wide eyes.

“I know, dad,” Michael whispered, voice catching in his throat and it broke Barry’s heart.

“Tell you what, after I get off work, we’ll go out to eat, alright? Does that sound like a plan?” Michael nodded his head, furiously wiping at his eyes once he pulled away from the embrace and Barry responded with a watery smile. “Alright; go ahead and get dressed while I go make some breakfast.”

 

 

 

Barry rubbed his temples, trying to hold back tears of frustration as he set down the phone, fingers curling in his hair. He wanted to hit something and at the same time remain frozen in his place, to face this head on and at the same time never have to.

“Is everything alright, Allen?”

He jerked, blinking wildly as he looked up to meet the concerned eyes of Captain Singh. “What—yeah, everything’s fine. Just Michael, uh, he ended up getting shoved down the stairs, apparently. The nurse patched him up and said he’s with the school counselor right now.”

“Do you need to go and pick him up?”

Barry sighed, shoving his phone in his pocket. “No, it’s okay. The school counselor lets him hang out with them for some reason, and it’s almost time for me to head home anyway. Thankfully he’s not really badly hurt—just a few bruises and a scratched up arm,” Barry mumbled, although he felt like that last sentence was more to reassure himself than to provide an explanation to Captain Singh.

“Have you considered transferring him elsewhere?”

He sighed, rising from his chair. “I don’t have the means to do that,” he responded solemnly. “Let me go finish up that last report so that I can go pick him up.”

 

 

 

And now he was here, three days later, holding a sobbing Michael in his arms as he waited to see the school counselor, Captain Singh’s voice ringing in his ear through the phone as he explained the situation.

“I’m really sorry about this.”

“It’s alright, Allen. You take care of that, okay? If you need time off, let me know—I’ll give you some paid leave.”

“Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it,” was all he could manage to respond with, blinking away tears and trying to keep a handle on his emotions as he hung up the phone, tucking it into his pocket before re-wrapping the arm around Michael, whispering soothing words to him, trying to keep calm even though he just wanted to scream. What did his kid do to deserve this?

“Mr. Allen?” a voice called and he looked up. “Come on in.”

He nodded to himself, trying to calm down in order to face this, coaxing Michael to stand up and walk with him towards the door, which he did readily as soon as he realized where they were heading, flying into the room and wrapping his arms around the man standing by his desk, typing something on his phone.

“ _‘Abi_ ,” Michael whimpered pitifully into the man’s shirt and the man ran his fingers through Michael’s hair, nails scraping lightly at the back of his skull in an action that seemed to instantly calm Michael as Barry watched his sobs taper off. He couldn’t help but feel wholly inadequate in the face of such easy care; the way the man seemed to know exactly how to calm Michael down without needing to say a thing.

“The sandbox and the music are just over there,” the man told Michael and Barry watched him nod, wiping at his eyes before hurrying to the far side of the room. “Mr. Allen, right?”

He coughed lightly, trying to shake away the shock of the situation, smiling awkwardly. “Uh, Barry, if you don’t mind. And you’re, uh, _Abi_?”

The man cringed slightly. “Yeah, no, I’m not into the whole ‘daddy’ kink kids are into nowadays. My name’s Leonard Snart,” the man introduced himself, giving him a small smile, his voice a slow drawl that reminded Barry a little of melted honey, sitting down in his chair and Barry mimicked the action.

“Does _Abi_ mean daddy?” he asked, feeling all kinds of uncomfortable saying ‘daddy’ to a man roughly his age that he had never met before.

Leonard nodded with a small hum. “In Arabic, yes,” he responded, looking over at where Michael was seated, headphones with music playing out of them firmly plugged in his ears, his hands molding shapes in the small box of viscous sand.

“Are you Arabic?”

The man nodded again in response. “Half, on my mother’s side,” was his verbal response as he let his eyes move away from Michael. “When your son found out, he asked how to say dad in Arabic and he’s called me that since.” The man tilted his head, shoulders hunching just slightly in a way that seemed like a nervous tick to Barry—a small gesture to convey the awkwardness he felt. “I think the teachers are ready to kill me for making him say anything in Arabic.” Leonard’s brow furrowed slightly, lips pursing. “I swear, they think I’m a terrorist or something.”

Barry couldn’t help but frown at that. Did this guy get treated like Michael did? Was this school so bad that it treated even its staff so poorly?

“Anyway, we’re here to talk about Michael.” The man leveled Barry with a look that had Barry squirming in his seat slightly.

“I’m trying my best, I swear.”

“I don’t doubt that. Michael knows you’re trying really hard.” Leonard’s lips pursed and Barry couldn’t help but get lost a bit in the curve of the man’s jaw line as he looked back over at Michael who was completely immersed in his task. “You’re a single dad, right?” The man’s blue eyes cut over to look at him, piercing and soulful, leaving Barry only able to nod mutely. “He tells me his mother left you guys.”

Barry winced slightly, hand instinctively coming up to scratch the back of his neck. “Yeah—I got to keep Michael by the skin of my teeth.”

The man nodded, an odd look crossing his features, but it was gone in an instant. “I want to help your son,” Leonard began and Barry felt dread pool in his stomach, knowing this is where the man told him there was nothing he could do, that this was Michael’s fault or that the school couldn’t be blamed for this or some crap like that. “I can’t really do much,” Leonard continued and Barry felt his heart plummet, felt his insides churn and bile rise in the back of his throat.

“I understand.”

“I don’t exactly have a lot of power here—I mean, look at where my office is,” Leonard gave a wave of his hand. “It’s in the basement where no kids cross because there’s no classrooms this way or lockers.”

Barry gnawed on the inside of his cheek, fingers splaying over the denim of his pants, trying to wipe away the moisture developing in the lines of his palms.

“However,” the man continued, leveling Barry with a steady gaze, “I am going to do everything I can to help you two out—up to and including, although the final decision is up to you, making this a legal case because assault is assault no matter where it takes place; also, I am willing to teach him here instead of him going to his classes while we work through this whole thing; plus, I have pulled up a list for schools he can transfer to if you feel so inclined.”

Barry swallowed thickly. “I can’t have him transfer. I can’t afford to move and I certainly can’t afford a private school.” He watched Leonard nod, seeming to have already known what Barry’s response would be, which wasn’t all that surprising considering that Barry was a single dad. The most likely scenario would be that he was barely making ends meet. “Can this actually be made into a legal battle?”

Leonard nodded his head, leaning back in his chair, an air of nonchalance about him. He seemed to have thought everything through as the man pushed a manila folder over. “Take that home, read it over. It’s all the evidence and information I have. And this,” the man added, placing a flash drive on top. “It’s the security footage.”

“I don’t have the money to pay the legal fees.”

“I’ll pay for it,” was Leonard’s only response, tone firm and dissuading any further argument although Barry certainly wanted to argue over it, wanted to tell this man who he had just met who was living on a teacher’s salary—and probably not a good one, going by the average pay teachers received and how poorly Leonard seemed to be treated here.

But he was in so much shock at the moment, his heart in his throat.

“Don’t let anyone see those, though. They’re not illegal, but I’d like not to lose my job quite yet.”

“They can fire you for this?”

The man shrugged. “I’m pretty sure they’d file it under misconduct or something. Anything to get me fired,” he muttered, propping his chin up on his hand, elbow on the table. “And, like I said, I’m willing to teach him here while we figure this all out. I’m not one for seeing people get abused and pushed around.”

Barry took the manila folder and the flash drive, putting it in the bag he carried with him for work, making sure they were secure before facing the man again. There must have been some shock written on his face because the male smiled slightly, grabbing a scrap piece of paper and scrawling out a few numbers.

“Call me once you’ve read it over. I’d tell you to call here, but sometimes they come in here and answer the phone when I’m not here.”

He accepted the piece of paper, pocketing that in his bag as well. “Thank you so much for your time, Mr. Snart,” Barry began, pausing as he saw Leonard’s lips curl like he had tasted something sour at the ‘Mr. Snart’, “I mean, uh, Leonard,” he hurriedly amended, biting the inside of his cheek, but a small smile broke its way through at seeing the way the male sort of relaxed.

“No problem,” Leonard responded with a small nod, walking over to where Michael was seated and tapping him on the back of his hand, clearly making sure his hand was visible by Michael. Barry couldn’t help but wonder if that was a tactic you were supposed to use on kids who were suffering through this kind of stuff. “Time for you to go,” he said softly when Michael removed the headphones, letting Michael move around to stand by Barry, his forehead pressing against Barry’s sternum, looking tired and like he wanted nothing more than to sleep even though it was only eight in the morning.

“I’ll be calling you soon,” Barry mumbled, voice soft although he didn’t quite understand why.

Leonard simply nodded in response as Barry couldn’t help looking back and watching even as the door closed how Leonard’s shoulders seemed to slump and how he moved to sit by the sandbox and play with the sand as the door finally clicked closed.

 

 

 

Barry was fairly certain it was considered unprofessional to some degree to be conspiring with one of the workers of the school _against_ the school, but Barry had never really been one for being professional and formal and actually sticking to the rules—unless they were laws that were just. In that case, he was a true stickler.

But here he didn’t particularly care, writing down extensive notes on a spare sheet of paper as he looked over the papers in the folder, trying to make sense of all the concise and detailed evidence Leonard had typed out for him. Barry couldn’t help but feel like this wasn’t the man’s first run-in with the law because he was finding it ridiculously hard to find loopholes against any of the points Leonard had written down—which was great on so many levels.

And Barry felt some hope rise in his chest as he pushed away from his desk, making his way over to Michael’s room and opening the door to see him sound asleep on his bed, curled under his covers, his mind lost in the realm of dreams.

Maybe this could actually work.

Maybe things would be okay after all.

 

 

 

Barry listened to Michael animatedly tell him about his day, how _Abi_ was the greatest teacher he ever had, how he was patient and explained everything concisely and in a variety of ways until he understood, how he didn’t push Michael to do this or that but gently encouraged him and didn’t force Michael do something he didn’t want to, how he was relaxed and made things fun and would get awkwardly confused on some things himself before figuring it out and continuing it.

“I think he’s lonely, dad,” Michael continued, fingering his straw as the waitress left with their orders.

“What makes you say that?”

“He shows me videos sometimes,” Michael told him, looking down at the table. “His sister’s a figure skater and his best friend’s a firefighter.”

Barry nodded, trying to figure out where Michael was going with this.

“But it’s sad, dad. None of the videos are even his. They’re videos on YouTube of his sister’s performances or of his friend on the news putting out fires and saving lives. He hardly ever sees his sister and his friend lives nearby, but apparently he’s ‘in a committed relationship and that stuff takes effort’ and his friend hasn’t hung out with him like they used to in a while.”

Barry nodded.

He felt like he could relate a bit to that, but he was more doling that out than receiving it. He hadn’t bothered to hang out with Cisco and Caitlin in what seemed like ages, although they did text, and he hadn’t really talked to Iris in just as long.

Joe he saw on the daily, though, and he and Michael would go over for dinner relatively often.

“I told him I was his friend, though. He smiled.”

“Does he not usually smile?”

“I’m not known for it, no,” a voice said from behind Barry and he jumped, nearly spilling his drink, twisting in his seat to look back to find Leonard standing there, hands tucked in his pockets and looking calm as ever.

“ _Abi_ ,” Michael laughed, scooting out of the booth to give Leonard a hug who patted his back in response. “Did Mickey show up?”

Leonard frowned. “You promised not to call him that. If he hears you, he’ll be mad at me,” he warned, but there was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. At Barry’s raised eyebrow, Leonard shrugged his shoulders a bit. “My friend—the one Michael was telling you about—Mick.”

Barry nodded in understanding. “I’m guessing he brought his partner along.”

Leonard nodded, rolling his head from side to side, seeming to be cracking his neck. “I was trying to escape all the UST over there by going to the bathroom and I couldn’t help but overhear.” The man cringed a little bit. “Sorry about that.”

“Not, its fine,” Barry quickly assured the male. “You’re welcome to eat with us, if you want.”

Leonard smiled and there was this small bit of awkwardness to it that made Barry smile just a bit wider because this man was so ridiculously confident but shy and anxious at the same time and it was a bit addicting. Barry had always enjoyed the company of anyone who showed any degree of the same awkwardness that seemed to permanently possess Barry as he stumbled over words a lot and outright fell quite a few times and his horrid habit of blurting things out without thinking them through.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to take a rain-check. The waiters won’t be very happy if I’m not there to stop them from doing anything in public.” Leonard’s awkward little grin transformed into a small smirk as he took a small step back. “I might take you up on that offer sometime, though,” he said as he turned and walked away, the last image of Leonard’s smirk imprinted in Barry’s mind.

And he would forever deny that he watched those long legs move as the man walked away, a soft hum of appreciation escaping him that had Michael’s eyes rolling.

It wasn’t Barry’s fault his school counselor was attractive.

 

 

 

“Well, I certainly am not used to doing this,” Barry chuckled softly, nursing his cup of coffee.

“All fieldtrips need a chaperone, don’t they,” was Leonard’s response, leaning back into the bench, a teasing grin on his lips as he cast Barry a sidelong glance, and Barry couldn’t help the small laugh that bubbled out of him.

“True.”

They sat in silence for a bit, Michael running about with a camera, taking pictures of the trees, looking at the little book in his hands to determine what kind of tree it was and tallying up how many of each he found. It was nice, if Barry was being honest. It was certainly one of his nicer lunch breaks. He had been planning on just eating at the station and then getting back to work, but Leonard had called him and asked if he was free because he wanted to take Michael out of school for something regarding biology.

It had sounded odd, but Barry had agreed and now they were sitting in the park, side by side, watching Michael accomplish his tasks with an eager smile.

“I’m sorry it was so sudden,” Leonard said after a bit. “He was really interested in plants and nature today and kids learn better in creative bursts.”

Barry shrugged, leaning over and knocking their shoulders together, fighting back the sudden worry that maybe that action was too friendly while also fighting back the thought that ‘wow, being close to Leonard felt really nice’. “You bought me lunch, so we’ll call it even,” he joked, sending the male next to him a grin.

Leonard returned it with a small upward twitch of the corners of his lips, deep blue eyes dazzling in the sunlight. “I also wanted to tell you that we got a court date,” he mumbled, tugging out his phone and opening it up, showing Barry the e-mail. “It should be successful,” he added, put there was a sort of tightness to his features, a tension radiating in his posture.

“And if it isn’t?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“You’ll transfer him out like you’re going to have to do even if we win, but then if you win you’ll have the money to afford it.”

“And if we don’t win? I don’t have the money to pay for that—you know that.”

“Barry,” Leonard looked at him, leveled him with a serious, honest look, his expression open and earnest in a way Barry had only seen a few times in the past few months—typically when he was assuring Barry about this, “I told you I would do absolutely all I can to help you—even if you lose this case, I’m going to help you.”

“I don’t like you paying for this,” he admitted quietly, looking at the coffee cup cradled in between his hands. “I mean, lawyers are expensive and you live off of a teacher’s salary which pays less than my job.”

Leonard gave a small snort from beside him. “Don’t worry about the money, Barry. I get a monthly check from this place as recompense for them screwing me over for twenty-three years,” he muttered and Barry watched Leonard’s fingers idly rub at his forearm. “Money is not a thing I lack.”

“Why do you work at the school, then?”

Leonard shrugged. There was a sort of broken look in his eyes, the look of someone who had been trampled on by life one too many times. “It gets me out of bed in the morning,” was the response he was given and he was pretty sure he knew what the man meant.

 

 

 

There was something to be said about Leonard Snart’s determination, Barry figured as he looked at the looming building of the courthouse. It was a place he never expected to see ever, especially for something not work related, but here he was, hand on Michael’s shoulder as they walked over to where Leonard was standing, looking like nothing could possibly bother him in a navy blue dress shirt and black jeans.

“How early are we?”

“An hour,” Leonard responded with a small grin. “I just want to make sure everything goes well.”

Michael eagerly looked around, taking it all in and walking a few paces away, leaving Barry and Leonard standing alone.

“Thank you, again, for doing this,” Barry mumbled earnestly, looking at Leonard imploringly, trying to convey how much it meant to him that this man who had no actual reason to help them in the first place decided to lend a hand and put this whole thing together and was paying for all of it, too.

Leonard just shrugged, looking vaguely awkward, head ducked down just slightly, his shoulders hunching just the slightest bit, practically unnoticeable but Barry noticed. He noticed because he spent an awful lot of time looking. And how could he be expected to not look? Leonard was a marvelous man, both inside and out.

“Leonard,” Barry coaxed, stepping closer, casting a glance over at Michael who was still looking about, “thank you, honestly. Not just for this, but for taking care of Michael before this and for teaching him while we’ve been dealing with this—and for just simply being here.”

Leonard’s eyes flicked up to meet his.

“With me, with us—honestly, thank you.”

Leonard blinked slowly and Barry took a small moment to admire the soft flutter of his lashes and the beautiful shade of his skin.

“You’re definitely a strange one,” Leonard muttered after a moment, blue eyes bright with what seemed to be hope, a small smile playing on his lips and Barry felt his heart beat faster in his chest.

Win or lose, he already felt like he and Michael had won the best thing they could’ve ever asked for in their lives.

And when they walked out of the courtroom for the last time a few days later, they were double winners, but Barry still considered Leonard to be the best one out of the two.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Feel free to find me on instagram ( @saruma_aki ) where I let y'all know when I post a new fic--(i'm still figuring out tumblr, sorry)
> 
> Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! <3


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